Stoodleigh News:

ST MARGARET'S CHURCH is now open daily from 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (or dusk)   

The church has been given some copies of "Stories of Stoodleigh" by Carol Shore with additional material by Connie Marsh. These are available in the church and donations should be put in the alms box.

2021 has seen the start of events.   There was a coffee morning on the terrace of the Old Stable on Wednesday 1st September.   Just over £300 was raised for the church.   Then instead of the annual Harvest Supper, an evening of skittles was held in the Parish Hall on Monday 4th October.   This very popular event also raised just over £300 for the church.   We are continually grateful to all who support the church and in particular the flower ladies who excelled themselves decorating the church for Harvest Festival.   Finally, on 11th December, a coffee and wine morning with mystery raffle was held in the church and raised £591.   It was a good start to Christmas festivities with the church shown off in all its glory with Christmas trees and floral decorations.   Do come into the church if you are doing the Exe Valley Christmas trail.

Our one event in 2020 was a very successful coffee morning in the garden of the Old Stable on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August.  Twenty-nine people attended and over £389 was raised for the church.    It was lovely for everyone to meet up again in a socially distancing way on a gloriously warm morning with the church so near.   Many thanks to everyone who came, contributed and helped to make this such a morale-boosting event.

Here you can find 2019 news from Stoodleigh church and community.

The Christmas Fayre on 7th December was a great success raising just over £830 for the tower repairs.   We are grateful to all who contributed, particularly the generous donations to the raffle. The children enjoyed meeting Father Christmas and added to this lively social event. 

The churchyard was cleared of leaves and other bits and pieces so that now the scaffolding is down things are back to normal.   The work on the tower has been completed so far and the bell ringers will be back in action on 19th December in time for the Christmas festivities.

The coffee morning at Furzeclift on 6th November raised £280 towards the repairs to the tower.  As usual it was a jolly social event and now already we have our plans for 2020 (see the events section).

Harvest supper and skittles at the beginning of October was a great success with £270 being raised for the Devon Air Ambulance.   Michael Brice won the "killer" skittles and donated his winnings to the DAA which was very much appreciated.

The Flower and Music Festival in June was a great success with over £760 being raised for repairs to the tower and heating system.   The Sunday evening Songs of Praise was very well attended and as well as fifteen hymns there was a selection of poems read to rest the singing.  The following Friday evening there was a splendid concert given by the Barle Singers under the baton of Steven Pugsley with Jennifer Rowlandson at the keyboard.   The varied selection of songs from Vivian Ellis, Noel Coward and Gilbert and Sullivan was most enjoyable and provided a cheerful ending to the Festival.  The team of Stoodleigh flower arrangers led by Betty Wotton and Phyllis Hill really exceeded themselves for this festival and the church was a riot of colours and scents.  Many thanks to all who took part in making the week such a success.

The annual Dog Show in August was a great success with owners and handlers entering into the spirit of the event, trotting with their dogs into as many classes and competitions as possible. Visitors enjoyed a happy, community event with cream teas, cakes, pimm's and beer, competitions and a raffle. Funds were being raised for St Margaret's Church and Stoodleigh Parish Hall towards much needed maintenance, repairs and improvements. Thanks to everyone's support and generosity £1125 will be shared between the two funds. A report with photos is on the parish website: https://parish.middevon.gov.uk/stoodleigh

At the end of August, the Ploughmans Lunch at Parkhouse Water was a great success raising £411 towards the funds for urgent repairs and renovations to the church tower.   The cost of this is in the region of £26,000 and work starts on 16th September.   Currently, thanks to the generosity of so many people who supported the Flower and Music Festival, the Dog Show and the Ploughmans Lunch, the village has raised £1,500.  In addition a further £6,000 has already been raised from outside Trusts and £5,000 from the Devon Historic Churches Trust.   The Friends of St Margaret's fund is also make a contribution of £5,000.  Other Trusts are being approached to help cover the shortfall of some £8,000.